Stevens Bikes puts a big focus on cyclocross, sponsoring the BKCP-Powerplus team of current World Champion Mathieu van der Poel and just announced their new 2016 cross bikes for this season of racing. I feel like cross season just finished, but with less than 3 months to the next race, it kind of is time to start thinking of cross again. No time off these days. Anyway building on the popularity of vdP’s camo sniper theme that we saw at Words five months ago, Stevens is making a version available to the public, without the Dutch or rainbow stripes (which you will have to earn yourselves.) With more than 65% of their cross bikes sold with discs last year, Stevens is going all in offering disc-brake bikes from top to bottom in their lines. Cantis still warm their Euro-racing hearts too, so there are plenty of those available too.
Jump past the break to hear what’s new in the 2016 bikes, to see the new colors, and check out how soon you can get one to start training the barriers again…
The top of the line 2016 Super Prestige Disc will be available in the van der Poel Camo, a new Lime Green, and a Team White replica finish. These three colors will be available in Disc Ultegra Di2/hydro complete bikes, Disc Ultegra mechanical/hydro complete bikes (like we tested last season), and as a Disc-only frameset with modular internal routing to accommodate electronic or mechanical drivetrains. EU pricing should be around 3800€, 3000€ and 1500€, respectively.
The updated details we’ve seen were fairly sparse, but Stevens tells us that the frames have been ‘detail-optimized‘ and promise that frames have lost 100-200g. We can’t see much change to frame shapes from the bike we rode last season (maybe the seat cluster looks to be mildly reworked with possibly more squared stays), so we assume most of the change is in material and layup.
The new Di2 bikes get a choice of DT’s lower profile r24 spline wheels in either tubular or clincher, vs. the 38s of last season. The slightly lighter, slightly less stiff wheels will add nicely to the bike, based on our time on it. Disc rotor compatibility unfortunately stays 160mm-only, so we guess vdP will keep on with his custom, team-only 140mm frame and fork. We have to say we have a soft spot for Steven’s paint scheme details, especially the bottom bracket icon of their Hamburg hometown.
Stevens recognizes the traditional desire for cantilever-equipped bikes, even at the top level of the sport, so the Super Prestige canti gets an overhaul too. It’s carbon frame gets the same shaping updates and weight savings, and this year will come in both BKCP Team White and the carry-over red and black version. The cantilever bike will be offered either as a mechanical Ultegra complete or as a separate frameset for ~2700€ and 1500€, respectively.
On more affordable fronts, the aluminum-framed Vapor gets a reworked frame with an all carbon tapered fork and is disc-only this season. With the same mech/hydro Ultegra group and housebrand wheelset, complete it is claimed to weigh just 200-800g total more than the top-level disc bikes. It may turn out to be the best deal of the bunch for just under 2000€. The aluminum cantilever Prestige will likely save another 200g and even more cash with a similar Ultegra build down to 1700€. Coming down in price even further the 1300€ disc Gavere and 1200€ canti Namur deliver aluminum frames with 105 groupsets and fender mounts that should prove versatile.
With new cross bikes Stevens is making sure that their bikes get to riders in time. We don’t have new pricing yet (we’ll update here when we do), but these updated 2016 bikes being introduced now, will ship to dealers in mid August for plenty of time to set them up for the first cross races of the 2015/16 season.
